Albert Pierrepoint (30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) was an English
hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that
ended in 1956. His first execution was in December 1932, assisting his
uncle Thomas. His father Henry had also been a hangman. In October 1941
he undertook his first hanging as lead executioner. During his tenure he
hanged 200 people who had been convicted of war crimes in Germany and
Austria, as well as several high-profile murderers—including Gordon
Cummins (the Blackout Ripper), John Haigh (the Acid Bath Murderer) and
John Christie (the Rillington Place Strangler). He undertook several
contentious executions, including Timothy Evans, Derek Bentley and Ruth
Ellis. He executed William Joyce (also known as Lord Haw-Haw) and John
Amery for high treason, and Theodore Schurch for treachery. In the 2005
film Pierrepoint he was portrayed by Timothy Spall.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Pierrepoint>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1861:
British chemist William Crookes announced his discovery of
thallium, which he had done using flame spectroscopy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thallium>
1918:
Fighting began during the March Days revolt in Baku,
Azerbaijan, resulting in about 12,000 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_Days>
1964:
Jeopardy! (host Alex Trebek pictured), the popular American
game show created by Merv Griffin, made its debut on the NBC television
network.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeopardy!>
2009:
Twelve gunmen attacked the Manawan Police Academy in Lahore,
Pakistan, and held it for several hours before security forces could
retake it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Lahore_police_academy_attacks>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
pseudopatient:
1. (dated) A person who pretends to be ill, especially to gain some
benefit.
2. (medicine) A person who poses as a patient so that research may be
conducted or staff trained.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pseudopatient>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It's my rule never to lose me temper till it would be
dethrimental to keep it.
--Seán O'Casey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Se%C3%A1n_O%27Casey>